What’s It Like To Be On A Football Scholarship In The USA - Nigerian Donald Obasi Tell His Story

Interview:
Donald Obasi, An International student from Nigeria 
A Freshman on Soccer Scholarship At Park University Parkville, Missouri 
Tell his experience

Few miles away from Kansas city seems like an attractive escape for would-be students cast aside by his country's football system, but is the reality all that rosy? We try to find out what it is like out there in Parkville Missouri USA.

With 700 acres of natural beauty and historic buildings, Park’s University home campus in Parkville, Missouri is rich with a tradition of positivity and accomplishment. may give a young lad from Africa a sense of haven, far different from the hustle and bustle of largely volatile streets of Lagos Nigeria.

Donald Obasi is a long way from home, but a soccer scholarship has given the 19-year-old an opportunity to study in the United States while continuing his footballing dreams. These days, an increasing number of West African players are choosing the same option of studying and playing abroad.

Many of those making their moves across the Atlantic have fallen victim to a not-well structured football system in most West African countries, whereby thousands of youngsters training to become professional footballers have no clear process to follow, often give the game up completely after a long stay in academies or boys clubs, frustrated from having no opportunity to proceed further.

The domestic league system are ladden with complexity of challenges... professional clubs do not fulffull contract stipulations, players are denied their remunerations and hardly any welfare.

Their hope to get into Europe or China soccer system have been like a Carmel going through the eye of a niddle. And fraudsters, child traffickers have taken advantage of the porous situation. Many of these youngsters gullible, fell victim, having been duped and abandoned on the side walk.

And that's where GreenHunters Sports International come in, working with Next College Student Athetics (NCSA Sports)– one of US leading soccer scholarship agencies who help give young footballers a second chance in the university and college system in America. NCSA Sports have extended their hands to lots of African youngsters seeking athletic scholarship in USA and Canada.

“Why did I Chose this option?"
"It was the best decision to be honest, I was in limbo for a long time,” Obasi tells our correspondent  from his Parkville residence, reflecting on his bold move which took him over 4,800 miles away from home. “When it came down to it I just thought, ‘this is my opportunity to use what I have got to get a university education. Ordinarily, my family couldn't afford to send me abroad, but studying on athletic scholarship is doing it for me."

Obasi is another victim of Nigeria football’s unforgiving youth system; frustrated and left to pick himself back up to start afresh.

Having spent spells in Kwara State Football Academy (KSFA) Ilorin, the teenager left at age 18 when he realized the academy cannot take him anywhere further. Two years ago he was in Nigeria U16 national team preparing for African qualifiers, but was asked to go at the eleventh hour.

“They kind of just dropped our group,” Obasi rues. “They dropped most of us 15s going into 16 because we were losing games.

“We were quite younger and we just kept getting picked off by the side with players who were 6ft and had developed muscles. We couldn’t handle other teams’ strength and pace. But there was good talent: we had good touches, we just needed time to grow, get some stature, get some pace...

But that was what the coaches didn't  have. If we keep loosing, the football federation will sack them. Even at youth level it is about win and winning, no developmental plans for good talents discovered at some point.

“We were all good with our feet and we could all pass the ball well, but we just kept getting outdone by the 6ft 2in players. You couldn’t even touch them – they’d just knock you straight on your backside.”

Option of University Education in U-S-A!
With Obasi unsure about which professional course to pursue,  he finished his Senior Secondary School (O-Level) in  St Gregory College Yaba Lagos, the less-specialised curriculum at a university in America was too attractive to turn down.

The teenager met the three criteria which qualified him for  scholarship education (at a reduced cost). Being an international student takes a lot off your fee, as does having academic qualifications such as SSCE, O-levels (six credits including Mathematics and English Language). Thirdly, he’d been a player in a top football academy and having been invited to Nigeria national U16 team gave him a leverage.

“I thought I could always go back to Europe to play pro-soccer after 4 years here." “My parents made that clear to me – if I did fine, because money-wise the scholarship is good enough to me, it will really make a difference in my life."

The Parkville campus offers a full range of academic programs, international culture, athletics, and a traditional university experience. Ideally situated minutes from downtown Kansas City, Park University provide a comprehensive selection of undergraduate and graduate education programs for students with a wide range of interests and educational expectations.

“I think I’m going to go down a business or computer technology route, so right now I’m taking classes in both of them, but I need to do some of the compulsory things before that.

“You can take about six or seven classes each semester and then General Education too – a variety of subjects. Everybody has to do it at some point, so I’m getting it out the way now. It’s kind of like being in school again.”

African in A USA University
Now, Obasi is the only African in Park University first-team squad called Pirate FC,  playing alongside six Germans, three South Americans, three English and other ambitious international team-mates.

The transition from Nigeria academy to university soccer hasn’t been easy – so much is peculiarly different – but Obasi was given the chance to start as soon as he landed in the Parkville campus.

The men's soccer team, Pirate FC Parkville campus compete in Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference (NAIA)Division. What may be seen as top flight collegiate conference in the eyes of most MLS Scouts.


“I played probably about half the time, which is very good as a freshman,” he says. “Generally they come in and get red-shirted, which means they aren’t allowed to play for a year – but then they save a year of eligibility.

“You only get four years to play, even if you had a five-year degree. If the coach doesn’t think that a lot of freshmen are going to play, he’ll red-shirt them and save them for when they’re better during their second to fifth years. But I got to play.”

But even the football isn’t quite as Obasi knew it.

“Everything’s on 3G or 4G,” he says. “I’ve played on one grass pitch. You have to play everything straight to someone’s feet, which is kind of alien to me because through-balls are just the way to go. You can’t slide tackle. You don’t want to shred your leg up, which happens to a lot of people.

“I’d say it’s slightly less possession-based over here. They value the build-up of attack: get the ball and look for an immediate forward option – even if it’s risker. Other teams I see do play a bit more possession-based, but still not like Nigerian teams that like to play to the gallery a bit.” Nigerians play more like the South Americans (Brazil, Argentina) rather than the German or typical English style.

Not only is the style of play different, the make-up of matches is also largely unique to the States. Matchdays are Fridays and Sundays, while scrimmages – competitive in-house matches – are played on some Tuesdays and Saturdays. Add that to straining training sessions during the week, and you can imagine the demands put on these youngsters.

Draws are desperately avoided: if things end up all square after 90 minutes, golden goal over two 10-minute halves determines a winner. A point is only shared if there’s still no goal after that.

And consider this: the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference is crammy  into just two months of action.

“It’s a bit weired for me – I don’t see why we pack the season into such a short period of time then have two months completely off doing nothing,” he shrugs.

“For me, I was shattered the whole time. For the entire season, my legs were shredded. I think it was the same with a lot of others as well. You don’t want to be knackered on game day. We seemed to be like that all the time.

“I want to be like an athlete and be fit, but I also want to be a normal student and just go down the pub. It's difficult to be cut off from lots of beautiful things that is happening on campus.

Not so Cool, for the Only Black African on Campus

You feel a bit nostalgic being the only black African on campus, Obasi is constantly reminded about his background in several ways than being humiliated*

“Coming here, I’ve got to be strong mentally,” he grins. “They segregate blacks so subtly. They just know from the way I speak, I don’t know why...and want to keep you at arms length."

“You open your mouth to say one word and they’ll know instantly that you’re not from around here. ‘You’re African? That’s not so cool, bro!’” "They want to chide you or look down on you."

"At first, it was pretty difficult to have real friends, even in the pitch, they outta kind of cut the ball away from me, our head coach: Efrem Shimlis, had to deal with that; and as I get more combative at the middle of the park and score some amazing goals both in matches and training sessions...I soon got more respect as well as accepted among the fold." Obasi recaps.

Whether he stays in Parkville or not, becoming a footballer is still one of Obasi' viable options for the future – although as he admits rather openly, not a particularly realistic one.

“Football is still a goal, although I think it might take more dedication than what I’ve got to make it professionally. But never say never, because MLS isn’t a very high-standard league, I am hoping to get on big teams  like Galaxy DC when I graduate from here or find a way to get into Europe."  Obasi said with all smiles.